


Fight for a New Life

by themrswhip17



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, More tags later, Other, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:21:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themrswhip17/pseuds/themrswhip17
Summary: When a random boy appears in Hermione’s apartment and demands that she and her friends follow his instructions, life as she knows it is forever changed. Changed for the better or worse, she’s still not sure just yet.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 62





	1. Preface & Chapter 1

“Are you sure about this?” Dad was questioning Mom for what seemed like the one-hundredth time. “What if they question everything they’re telling him?”

“They’re going to, it's part of the process. You know how we were. Are we giving them enough time is the bigger question?” Mom was stirring her tea and glancing out the kitchen window.

“We don’t have much of an option.” Dad moved closer to Mom and wrapped his hands around her. “We’ve done everything we could to prepare and last this long. It’s up to him and,” he gave a chuckle, “us now.” 

“Finn, you ready?” Mom called back towards me. I step fully around the wall that I was hiding behind. I take a deep breath and nod. Mom and Dad look at me then each other. Their eyes asking one another if they’re doing the right thing.

“You remember everything that you need to tell them when you arrive?” Dad asks as he leaves Mom’s side to come to me. Making sure that my bags are secured on my back.

“Yes, Dad.”

“And you have everything packed for the journey?” Mom asks from her place by the window still. I nod my head. She looks back up to Dad and nods her head to him. “Better to do it quickly, dark clouds are moving closer.” Mom sets her cup down and with one last glance behind her to the window, she moves forward and wraps me in a tight hug. “I love you and I’m so very proud of you, Finley.”

“I know, Mom. I love you too.” I hold on as tightly as I can knowing that this is the last time I will be able to do this. She releases me and Dad moves forward for his embrace. Dad didn’t use to be much of a hugger, he still isn’t, but Mom said he has gotten a lot better. I think it just has to do with the chaos of the world. During his hug, he doesn’t say anything, but his tight grip says everything for him.

“Time for the time-turner,” Dad reaches in his pocket as he pulls away from our hug and unwraps a beautiful golden time-turner in an emerald cloth. He places it around my neck and deposits the cloth back in his pocket. There’s a loud boom that sounds from outside our house. Mom and Dad share a panicked look. Mom rushes forward and flips the circles several times. Before she’s able to release them to set the journey forward the front door is blasted off and a burly male voice shouts, “Search the house!”

“Make us proud, Finn.” I hear Dad say as Mom quickly places a kiss on my cheek then she sets the time-turner free. I see the Death Eaters swarm the kitchen and green lights being cast. I hear someone scream and close my eyes trying to forget and not think about how close the mission came to failing, or how my parents no longer exist, at least as how I know them.

CHAPTER 1

Laughter and brightness were everywhere in this little apartment, and it is everything Hermione could ask for. Ginny was in the kitchen with her helping prepare a meal while Ron and Harry are sitting at the small bar talking to the girls about what has occurred during the workweek. This is how most Friday nights occurred, although the location was always on rotation. 

“Anyway, no one was too thrilled about what happened, least of all Malfoy,” Ron laughed. “Seamus’s face, oh you should have been there to see it, I’d describe it as -,” A sound of china falling and shattering in the living room stopped the story. The four pairs of eyes turned towards the living room.

“Hermione, are you expecting anyone?” Harry asked as he slowly produced his wand and slightly moved out of the bar stool.

“No, I’m not,” Hermione said setting down the spoon and replacing it with her own wand. The four made their way towards the living room, wands at the ready. There was a male figure, smaller than Harry and Ron, near the fireplace. He had his wand out trying to fix the china that was in pieces beside him, so focused on the item he broke, he didn’t realize he had company. 

“Wand down and turn around slowly,” Harry said causing the stranger to jump in surprise and dropping his wand rather ungracefully. He turned around and the fear in his eyes quickly vanished as he took in the four friends. His eyes met each of theirs until he found Hermione’s eyes last.

“Mom,” he breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Mom?” Ron repeated off somewhere to the side of Hermione. Hermione knotted her eyebrows in shock and confusion, not quite sure what to do.

“What is the date?” The young stranger asked the group of friends still staring at him.

“Uh - September fifteenth,” Harry answered just as unsure of the situation.

“Of what year?” The boy was now becoming a bit panicked. He started dropping the bags he had on his back and arms before picking up his wand.

“2000?” Ginny responded moving closer to the boy. The boy’s head shot up.

“Uncle Harry, you and Uncle Ron need to get all the Aurors to Malfoy Manor right now. I’ll meet you there!” He rushed out quickly before disappearing with a pop.

The four friends all looked at each other. “Did he just Apparate? He doesn’t look like he’s anywhere near seventeen yet!” Ron shouted, moving to where the boy just Apparated from. Just then a silvery orb floated into Hermione’s living room.

“Fire and/or attack on Malfoy Manor. All reinforcements needed.” It repeated the announcement before dissolving into thin air. 

“We gotta go,” Harry announced before Apparating. The rest followed Harry’s lead and were soon met by an orange glow engulfing Malfoy Manor. Harry, Ron, and even Ginny rushed off to join the Aurors. Hermione stood shell shocked. She could hear over the roaring of flames Narcissa shouting that Malfoy was still inside. She ran over to join Narcissa and the wizard that was assisting her away from the Manor.

“Where would he be, Mrs. Malfoy?” Hermione grabbed her arm turning Narcissa towards her.

Narcissa turned back towards the fire and pointed towards the left side of the building that was left fairly untouched still beside the smoke coming through the windows. “The East Wing, second floor, that is his area. I’m not sure what room he’d be in though.” Narcissa informed before being pulled away by the wizard.

Hermione turned back to look at where Narcissa had just pointed at. She could tell the fire was quickly moving to the left side of Malfoy Manor and time was running out. There was no way to get in safely, except Apparating in. She closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could on a location in the East Wing on the second floor. With a pop of success, she found herself in a smokey and hazing setting. 

“Malfoy!” Hermione shouted as she jogged down the hall opening any doors she could as she passed. “Malfoy!” She shouted louder. Pulling her shirt over her nose and mouth to keep the smoke out as best she could. The heat from the fire was getting hotter, a sure sign that the flames would soon arrive. “MALFOY!”

“Mom?” The stranger poked his head out from a door frame three doors down the hallway. Hermione felt a brief relief and jogged to meet the boy. “He’s knocked out in here, and I can’t Apparate with someone else.” He told Hermione when she arrived. She entered the large room, and sure enough, Malfoy was passed out on the ground in the middle of the room. The roar of the fire could be heard down the hallway.

“Malfoy? Malfoy! I need you to wake up!” Hermione tried shaking him awake, but it didn’t work. 

“Mom, the fire is getting closer and fast! We have to go now!” The stranger shouted as he performed the spell Aguamenti, shooting water into the hallway. It did nothing but anger the fire. “It’s Feindfyre! I’ll hold it off, you take Dad to St. Mungo’s!” 

“Oh no, you don’t! I don’t know who you are and why you keep calling me ‘Mom’ and...wait, did you just call Malfoy ‘Dad’!” Hermione realized what the boy had called the unconscious man on the ground just then. She hefted Malfoy up, grabbing onto him as tightly as she could, and then grabbed the boy by the collar of his scarlet jacket. “I'm not leaving you, YOU appeared in my apartment making you MY responsibility!” Once she had a firm grip on both males she Apparated them to St. Mungo’s. 

“What happened?” A receptionist asked as she came around the desk.

“Fiendfyre, Malfoy Manor,” Hermione coughed. She pointed to Malfoy, “He needs to be checked thoroughly, we found him unconscious and unresponsive. We,” she motioned to herself and the young boy, “need to be checked just for smoke inhalation.” The receptionist disappeared to be replaced with Healers. “Send a message to Harry Potter that Hermione, Malfoy, and the boy are okay. Let him know where we are.” The receptionist nodded and sent off what looked to be a silver macaw. 

Hermione, Malfoy, and the boy were all taken to different rooms to be examined. Once Hermione got a clean bill of health she went off to find the boy. She was just making it down the hall when she saw Ginny running towards her. “I was on my way to get you. We’re all in Malfoy’s room. Well, Harry and I are. Ron took the kid down to get some food.” The girls made their way down the hall to Malfoy’s room. It was grander than the room she had been in for her check over. Malfoy was hooked up to various machines and appeared to have an IV inserted. 

Harry was sitting in one of the chairs talking to Malfoy when Hermione and Ginny walked in. Harry looked up and saw the girls entering. “Are you okay?” He stood and met Hermione halfway into the room.

“I’m fine. Malfoy, how are you?” She turned towards Malfoy, the man she rescued a few hours ago, the man this mystery boy had called ‘Dad’. His gray eyes met her brown ones and although his face was covered in dust, he appeared to be doing just fine.

“I have a few minor burns and cuts, but the blasted Healers want me to stay overnight.” He looked down at the IV stuck in his hand, pouting as if it was the IV’s fault he was here. 

“Look, Malfoy do you have any idea how the Fiendfyre started?” Harry asked, getting straight to the Auror side of the investigation. 

“No, Potter, I don’t. I tried fighting it. It started in the informal dining room where I was eating dinner with Mother. I told her to run and I ran away from here, trying to draw the fire towards me. It seemed like it was intent on following me. I was able to escape it in my room for a while, but I couldn’t leave the Manor for whatever reason.” Malfoy’s eyes held a slight fear to them as he retold what happened.

“You couldn’t leave the Manor?” Ginny asked.

“The wards were down though. That’s how I was able to Apparate in.” The two wizards and one witch looked up at Hermione at this information. 

“You were able to Apparate in? How? Even Mother had to run out of the Manor.” Malfoy sat up quickly, but not before letting out a groan of pain.

“Even the boy was able to Apparate in, Harry.” Hermione turned to see Harry deep in thought. 

“There was a boy?! How many people are able to Apparate into MY Manor while I simply cannot?” Another groan from Malfoy. 

“He called him ‘Dad’,” Hermione ignored Malfoy who was trying to swing his legs around the bed to better talk to his company. Harry’s eyes widened at the name for Malfoy the boy came up with.

“But that means...that makes him...and you...” Ginny was trying her best not to let too much information out while piecing it together for herself.

The door to the private room creaked open, “You guys ready for us?” It was Ron’s voice and by ‘us’ Harry, Ginny, and Hermione knew he had the boy, too. Harry and Ginny looked at Hermione for the answer. She nodded her head and walked to the other side of Malfoy’s bed near the window. 

It was a clear night outside. The stars were dancing in the sky without a care in the world and Hermione couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. She turned away from the window and called Ron into the room.

“Who is this kid?” Malfoy asked once the boy came into view.

“That is what we are about to find out,” Harry said in a way that was half intimidating and half calm. The kid seemed to catch this tone and quirked an eyebrow up before rolling his eyes dramatically. “How old are you, kid?”

“I’m fourteen,” the kid walked around and found a seat next to Hermione. He smiled at her before turning his smile to Malfoy. Malfoy was watching him with carefully guarded eyes.

“And your name?” Ginny questioned.

The boy took a deep breath as if this was the hardest part of the questioning thus far. He looked everyone in the eyes starting with Ron, and moving on to Harry and Ginny, before meeting Malfoy’s and lastly Hermione’s. “My name is Finely Newton Malfoy,” Everyone seemed puzzled. “I am the son of Draco Lucius Malfoy,” gray eyes met gray eyes. “And Hermione Jean Granger Malfoy,” a smile she realized much like her own was mirrored in this kid. Her kid.


	2. Chapter 2

Four pairs of eyes stare unmoving at him. Maybe there was a better way of telling them just who he was. His parents didn’t really help when he had asked before they sent him back in time. For being the number one and two students in their year at Hogwarts, they really didn’t have the answers to many of his questions for this mission.

“You’re kidding, right?” Uncle Ron spoke up. 

“Nope. In the bag I left at Mom’s apartment, I have my birth certificate and the Malfoy family tree to prove it. Mom made sure I had both on me in case you all decided to have harder evidence.” No one reacted to Finn. “There’s also DNA testing?” 

“You don’t really look like a carbon copy of Malfoy, which I’d expect from a Malfoy...offspring.” Uncle Harry had moved closer to take a look at Finn.

Finn just rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m well aware. We heard it quite often in my time. So much so, that Mom had to prove it to the public, Rita Skeeter wouldn’t stop otherwise.” His face was set in a scowl. He knew that his looks didn’t favor one of his parents over the other. He had blonde hair, just a few shades darker than the signature Malfoy blonde, dirty blonde one might say. He had eyes that resembled his father’s gray irises, but there were days when they often threw a handful of blue or green speckles. He remembered his mom telling him often that he was the perfect mix of their appearances.

“I-I can see it,” Mom softly mentioned, still having her eyes moving throughout his face looking for additional clues. “He has my smile and his gray eyes are similar to Draco’s.” Her cheeks reddened at this statement and Finn found Aunt Ginny wiggling her eyebrows in Mom’s direction. Uncle Harry and Ron seemed clueless to Aunt Ginny’s suggestive actions. Typical.

“So, you’re our son,” Dad stated before taking a breath. “What brought you back here? I’d like to have thought that I wouldn’t send my own son on a mission by himself.” He seemed to growl. The other adults seemed to look at each other with knowing eyes as to what he had implied. 

“Well, you know very well neither of you two could’ve come back seeing how you’d be having to interact directly with yourselves. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny’s kids were too young and not trained at all -.”

“We have kids?” Ginny interrupted. Finn turned towards her and with a smile gracing his features nodding while holding up three fingers.

“I was the only option.” Finn shrugged his shoulders, not seeing the big deal with this since he had already gone through this once already.

After sharing a looking with the other adults, Uncle Harry spoke up again. “Okay, so your name is Finely and -.”

“Finn. For short.”

Uncle Harry nodded, “Finn. You’re fourteen and when what year did you come from?”

Finn smacked his hand to his forehead, “Right! 2016. I came from the year 2016.”

“Why?” Mom asked sitting in a seat that was under the big window now.

“You,” he gestured to the adults around the room. “You figured out the war, fight, whatever you want to call it, started its rooting during the year 2000. This year. The first major event of it was tonight with the first of three Malfoy Manor attacks. The target in each of those attacks was Dad.” Finn met his Dad’s eyes. “The first fire left you scarred up in ways that bothered you and you never truly got over, even with Mom’s help. You rarely showed that it bothered you, but Mom and I could tell.”

“How bad?” Dad gulped seemingly afraid of the answer.

“Burnt down to the bone nearly in your wand arm from mid-forearm to your shoulder. It continued down to your chest. It was second-degree burns on your chest I believe.   
You nearly lost your left leg when part of the Manor fell and crushed it to pieces. You had a limp that slowed you down a bit, but you never let it show to the other Aurors besides Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron. There was the emotional and mental distress from having to heal and go through therapy. Because it was Fiendfyre, there was only so much that magic could help you heal. You mainly healed and recovered the Muggle way.” He glanced towards Mom, “which is where Mom came into play, a little more than previously.”

He saw Dad and Mom exchange looks. “So, we started our relationship because of Draco’s injuries?” Mom didn’t sound too sure, especially considering Dad had barely a scratch on him now.

“Yes and no,” Finn’s face scrunched up. He really didn’t expect to talk about how his parents came to be. “You started interacting with each other more. I don’t know the full details, really. I just know that after the first fire, you helped Dad heal and then you caught feelings and one thing led to another?” Aunt Ginny was laughing at his embarrassment that was clear as day on his face. Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron were hiding smiles. 

Mom was about to ask another question as well as Dad it seemed, but luckily Uncle Ron came to the rescue. “How about we all let Malfoy rest and we continue this tomorrow or the next day? Finn can stay at the Burrow if needed.”

“He can stay with us at Grimmauld Place, too as another option,” Aunt Ginny had a soft smile as she moved to hold Uncle Harry’s hand. 

“I appreciate that guys, but I have plenty of room at my flat for him,” Hermione gave a grateful smile to her friends. “Do you mind taking him and settling him in while I speak with Malfoy?” She turned from her friends to the man in the hospital bed. The three adults nodded.

“Bye Dad, I’m glad that you’re okay.” Finn waved as he was being ushered out of the room by Uncle Harry with Aunt Ginny and Uncle Ron following behind and closing the door. Not before hearing him ask, “Do you think they’re going to snog now?” Which was answered by a slap, no doubt from Ginny, and a laugh from a boy.

Hermione and Draco continued to stare at each other. Draco, waiting for Hermione to speak, while Hermione was trying to process everything she’d learned thus far and formulate the words properly. 

“Where are you going to stay after this?”

Draco simply shrugged, “I’ll figure it out. I’m sure Mother will want to rebuild it and continue to stay there.” Hermione nodded, her mind obviously still working through everything. “Do you believe him? Finely?”

Hermione’s eyes refocused onto Draco. “I do. I can see little bits of each of us in him physically. His personality appears to be a mix of each of us as well, from what little I’ve gathered during my short time with him.” She sat back down in the chair under the window.

“He just randomly appeared in my living room, breaking my Grandmother’s vase,” she had a soft smile on her face. “We walked out since I wasn’t expecting anyone, with our wands drawn. He turned around when he heard us and immediately found me and said ‘Mom.’ The relief in his eyes was palpable.”

She met Draco’s eyes and saw that he was following along easily and engrossed with how his son from the future came to make an appearance. Hermione continued the retailing. “He asked for the date and then the year. He gave Harry and Ron orders immediately to get the Aurors to Malfoy Manor and then,” she paused. “He Apparated, Malfoy.” Staring at him for emphasis making sure he would not question the fact that she was telling the truth. Malfoy’s masks dropped and showed a surprised expression.

“How can he-,” 

“We don’t know yet. We were all just as shocked. Then we received a Patronus message stating there was a fire at Malfoy Manor. Harry, Ginny, and Ron all rushed off once we Apparated there. I saw your mother and asked where you were. She told me, and Malfoy, she was so distraught. Anyway, the only way in at that point was through Apparation and I’ve never been on your side of the Manor, so I put as much focus as possible into Apparating there. Luckily I did, just down the hall from your room.” Malfoy had looked impressed at this. “Finley heard me calling your name and guided me to you. He had already found you and would’ve left, but it seems he has yet to master the art of side along Apparation.” Hermione laughed a little.

“So, you are who I have to thank yet again for saving me?” Malfoy said in a teasing tone.

“It’s nothing, Malfoy. You would’ve done the same for me. Besides Finley I’m certain has your stubbornness. He was about to fight the Fiendfrye himself so I could get you out safely.” Hermione shook her head at the boy’s boldness.

“Sounds like a bloody Gryffindor to me,” Malfoy scrunched his face up before giving a pointed look to Hermione. She rolled her eyes and stood from the chair.

“I better get going, I’m sure we’ll see each other tomorrow.” She gave a small wave and walked over to the door. With her hand gripping the handle she turned to the man in the bed once more. “Get some rest, Malfoy.”

“Good night, Granger. And, thank you for tonight.” Hermione felt her neck and cheeks heat from meeting the cool gray across the room. She quickly turned and made her escape back to her flat, ready to see what chaos her son with his aunt and uncles created without her supervision.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay, it's been busy as we're drawing to an end for the semester at work. Between finalizing grades and making finals, I've been a bit preoccupied. Here is the next chapter and I hope to have a few more prewritten over Christmas break! Enjoy and be sure to leave a kudos and comment :)

Hermione Flooed back to her flat and heard commotion coming from down the hall where her room and the guest room were located. She went down the hall to find Ron and Ginny leaning on either side of the doorway smiling into the events of the guest room. When she made it between them she was able to see what was causing all the laughter.

Harry had taken it upon himself to teach Finn how to transfigure some basic bedroom items into his own liking. The comforter had changed colors from a nice burgundy to deep emerald green, much to Hermione’s displeasure. The bookshelf and nightstand held new titles that Hermione hadn’t owned, she assumed many of these were ones that Finn brought from his timeline. The more she looked around what used to be her guest bedroom, the more hints of greens in various shades that she found.

“You know Hermione is never going to enjoy this much Slytherin green being in her flat,” Harry told Finn while he changed the curtains to the same shade as the comforter. The boys in the room had yet to realize that she had arrived back home.

“Oh, I know. Dad and I had the same issue when we redid my room a few years ago. She didn’t like it, but when I explained that research has shown green to be a great relaxing bedroom color, well she couldn’t disagree with research.” Finn laughed as he threw a pillow into a black pillowcase. “Dad said it was very Slytherin for me to play the science card, but it worked out in my favor.” Finn had turned around to face Ron and Ginny. He had what Hermione could describe as the Malfoy smirk on his face. He seemed to blush slightly seeing that his mother had heard every word.

“So you were in Slytherin?” Hermione asked, walking fully into the room now. Harry went to replace her at the door. Finn sat on his bed and continued to arrange the pillows.

“Well, no.” Finn rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure if he should bring this information that he knew his family would not take lightly. “By the time I was of age, Hogwarts wasn’t what it used to be. I didn’t attend. You, Dad, and everyone else in my family took up the charge to teach me magic. Between the school books both you and Dad still owned as well as whatever was left of Malfoy Library, I’ve been well educated.” He tried to smile his best no-need-to-worry smile he could muster, but looking at the adults he knew it didn’t work.

“What do you mean Hogwarts wasn’t what it used to be?” Ron asked a scowl now on his face.

“It was taken over a few years before I turned eleven. The Order tried to take it back at some point, but it was a failed mission that leads to a sharp decrease in our numbers and the destruction of Hogwarts. I don’t know much else besides that. It was a bit of a sensitive topic for all of you.” Finn was playing with his hands, the silence between the adults was too much for him to handle. “You, Harry, always said I would’ve been a Hatstall though with Dad saying I’d come out a Slytherin in the end.” He looked up at the group with a soft smile.

“Well,” Ginny started, clapping her hands to draw attention to herself. “I believe we’ve all had enough excitement for one night. I think Hermione and Finn should settle in and get some rest.” She hugged Finn and then walked to give Hermione a tight hug. “Let us know if either of you needs anything.” Ron and Harry repeated the motions and all three departed leaving the new mother standing in her son’s room.

“Is there anything that you need before I head off to my room?” Hermione asked like a proud host.

“No Mom, I’m good. I’m pretty sure you have the same layout in the kitchen here as you did back home. I’ll help myself if I need anything.” Finn jumped off his bed to retrieve a book from the bookshelf. He placed a quick, light kiss on Hermione’s cheek. “Night, Mom.” He happily called out before diving back into bed and flipping open the book.

Hermione had gone about her normal nighttime routine after that. Although she was used to the occasional guest, mainly her friends, staying over the simple ‘Night, Mom’ reminded her that this was not a guest in her flat. Just days before her twenty-first birthday, she was now the mother to a fourteen-year-old teenage boy. She didn’t know the first thing about being a parent, and yet here she was being forced to become one by a future version of herself that no longer exists now.

She laid in her bed willing sleep to come and take her away from her busy brain that was running non-stop with details from the day and scenarios that it was creating. What house would Finn have been in had he gone to Hogwarts? Can he go to Hogwarts in this time period? If he was able to go to Hogwarts, that would mean the rest of the world would find out about him. How would she explain she’s now caring for a fourteen-year-old boy? Surely someone would mention that he looked like Malfoy as well. What then?

Her mind would not stop. She got out of bed extremely frustrated and found the random parenting books Ron got her a joke for her birthday last year. Saying that she could’ve used those books back when they were in school to help keep himself and Harry more in line. She placed the stack at the center of her bed and dug into the first book, quickly skipping past the pregnancy and post-natal sections. 

She was halfway through the second to last book in her stack when a light knock at her door jolted her attention away from the printed text. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand as she got up from the bed to find that it was well past nine-thirty in the morning. Grabbing her wand on the way out of her room, knowing she didn’t have visitors this early on a weekend morning. She looked through the peephole to find the father of her child standing awkwardly. She cautiously opened the door, “Malfoy?”

“Granger. I would say ‘good morning,’ but it looks like you didn’t sleep well. Did our son keep up?” He was amused it seemed by her current appearance. She grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him into her flat.

“You cannot say stuff like that out in public, Malfoy!” She quickly shut the door after glancing down the hallway to her flat making sure it was abandoned.

“Granger, you live in Muggle London. No one would know what I was talking about.” He studied her up and down. “Are you okay?”

“You want me to lie or tell the truth?” Malfoy gave her a pointed look and then rolled his eyes. He made his way over to the small loveseat in the living room area. Hermione followed closely behind. “I’m honestly losing my mind a little. How did we think it was a good idea to send him back in time to us? They had to remember that we loathed each other.”

“Loathed?” Malfoy placed a hand over his chest in feign pain, “I’ll have you know, Granger, I feel quite neutral about you and I certainly never loathed you in the past.”

Hermione pursed her lips in thought as she studied him over. He didn’t seem to be lying about what he said. “Fine, we’re neutral about each other,” she started again. “I just don’t understand why they sent him to this specific year. We are nowhere close to the people that raised him. And what if he wants to go to school?” The last thought made its return from last night. “We’ll have to let at least McGonagall know about his unique past. Others will want to know why I, a nearly twenty-one-year-old woman, is suddenly in the company of a fourteen-year-old boy who appears to be a near carbon copy of her school bully!” Hermione gave a resounded groan and dropped her head into her lap.

Malfoy just stared at her in mild horror. She had some points, he could give her credit for that. As far as the boy going Hogwarts, that wasn’t something to worry about at the moment. He reached over and awkwardly patted her shoulders. “Look, I don’t have the answers to everything,” he could hear Granger chuckle. He rolled his eyes as he continued, “Finely can apparate, I don’t think he will be falling behind in school. That is something we can focus on at a later date. For now, we need to figure out why we sent him back to this specific time.”

She peeked through the gap in her folded arms. “What if people find out about him? You can’t deny that the two of you are related. You look too much like each other. Plus, if people figure out the two of you are related they’ll want to know why he’s around me so much and even staying with me.”

“That’s just something we’ll have to figure out when word gets out to the public. I’m not concerned about it at the moment.” Malfoy stated softly, trying to calm her worried mind. They were still close to each other with his arm now on her back when the creak of a door opening down the hall sounded. He removed his hand and stood from the loveseat to stand by the fireplace, opposite from his former spot. Hermione gathered herself as best as she could. Their son walked out. His hair a wild mess atop his head and he yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes entering the room. His pajamas were navy and dark green plaid with a charcoal shirt. His brows drew in confusion at the invisible tension between his parents.

“What’s going on here?” He questioned looking between his parents who were rooted as far from each other as they could possibly be in the tiny living room. 

“I was discharged from St. Mungo’s this morning and thought I’d come to check in on you and Granger. Maybe offer to take you out shopping for items you don’t have that you couldn’t bring.” Malfoy slipped his hands into his pockets and pushed himself from his spot. 

“I could use some clothes, Mom had suggested I only pack a couple of outfits so I didn’t stand out too much.” Finn agreed while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Excellent, we’ll go after you’ve had breakfast.” Malfoy turned to Floo off for an hour or so. As he reached for the powder his son spoke up.

“Wait, you’re not staying and having breakfast with us?”

“I’m sure you know your mother and I weren’t what some would consider friends during this time period.” Hermione met Malfoy’s eyes after his statement. She looked over to Finn who seemed a bit down by the statement. Did his parents warn him of how their relationship towards each other maybe once he arrived?

She turned back to Malfoy, shooting him a look that held all the fury of a mother bear. “Come now, Malfoy. Finn wants us to eat together as a family,” she clenched her jaw as she said ‘family’. “Besides, I have plenty of food for the three of us. Scrambled eggs?” She stood from the chair and walked into her kitchen to prepare eggs, bacon, and anything else she could muster up.

Finn took a seat at the bar with Malfoy joining him. Still looking between his parents, unsure of what was going on he gave a small chuckle. “You know this is almost a mixture of a normal morning and a pre or post-mission morning.” Hermione turned from the stove and raised her brown brows. “Normal mornings were usually filled with you and Dad in the kitchen cooking. There were always jokes and laughter, many of the jokes seeming to be inside ones between just the two of you from when you went to school. On the weekends, we’d watch the Muggle cartoons. You would say they’d root our brains, but Dad and I always enjoyed watching them.” He was spinning on the bar stool as he talked about the future.

“What were the mornings evolving missions like?” Malfoy said, picking up an apple from the fruit bowl.  
Finn’s features dropped. “It would depend on who was out on the mission and if it happened overnight or was going to happen once the sunset. Overall it was usually silent with a stressed and worried air to them. Not a whole lot of laughter. No Muggle cartoons. Whoever was home would cook, but we rarely ate, especially if we were still waiting for either of you to return from the previous night.”

Hermione and Malfoy shared a look. Hearing bits and pieces of his life was hard. Neither one would purposefully put their child through what Finn had to experience. Malfoy especially would try his hardest to not let any child of his go through anything remotely close to his life growing up.

Hermione filled up several plates with the various items that she cooked for breakfast and placed them between the two males on the bar. “Dig in.” She grabbed an empty plate for herself and started to add piles of fresh bacon, eggs, and buttered toast.

Breakfast was quiet and Finn offered to clean up the kitchen and Malfoy silently helped his son with the chore. Hermione went into her room to get ready for the day. Having a nice hot shower to help cope with the lack of sleep as well as dressing in a nice comfortable outfit. By the time she came back out, she found her kitchen in order and a note from Finn stating that he had gone out shopping with Malfoy. She could only hope that Malfoy knew what he was doing when it came to keeping him from the gossip of the wizard media.

Finn arrived back home after a few hours of shopping with his dad. When they Apparated back into Mom’s flat they found her asleep on the couch and quietly shuffled down the hallway to his room to put away the bags of new clothes.

“Slytherin green,” Malfoy commented on the main color of his son’s room.

Finn smiled and nodded his head. “Studies show that green helps with promoting relaxation and therefore it makes a great color for a bedroom.” He was putting his clothes up the Muggle way that Mom had taught him years ago.

“You would bring studies and research into this. That’s how you got to keep this color huh?” Malfoy was glancing at the books on the bookshelf. Many of the titles he didn’t recognize, which was saying something considering the Manor had a library filled with many books from the past and present. 

“Yeah.” Finn finished with the last hanger and turned towards Malfoy. “You and Mom were always upset that I never got the chance to experience Hogwarts. There was a betting pool between you, Uncle Harry, and the Weasleys about what House I’d be sorted into from the day I was born. All of that was unknown to Mom.” 

Malfoy laughed, thinking that did sound like something he’d partake in as well as the other men. Then he caught the meaning of what his son had said. “You never went to Hogwarts? Did you go to any wizarding school?”

Finn shook his head, “I figured you and Mom had talked about that this morning before I came out?”

“No, that was something else entirely. We didn’t get the chance to talk about specifics from when you both left St. Mungo’s.” Malfoy furrowed his brows in deep thought. Just then he heard Hermione’s Floo go off. “Do you know if Hermione is expecting anyone?” Finn shook his head and reached for his wand. “No, you stay here.” Malfoy secured his son in the room and stalked down the hall. 

Malfoy turned the corner and came face to face with the end of another wand. “Potter.”

“Malfoy,” both men drew their wands down. “What are you doing here?” Malfoy looked behind his Auror partner to see the Weasel and Weaselette entering by Floo as well. Granger was stirring awake.

“I took my son shopping for necessities. What are you doing here?” 

“We brought over a later lunch, early dinner. Figured we’d start trying to unravel the mystery that is your son.” Potter had a smile on his face. “Speaking of which, where is he?”

Malfoy pointed down the hallway, “In his Slytherin themed room.” Harry laughed and went to greet his nephew.

“It’s not a Slytherin themed room.” Granger croaked, still trying to wake up on the couch. “I’d never let Slytherin related items into my house.”

“Obviously you didn’t mind having Slytherin related items in your house if we were married and created Finn.” Malfoy teased giving his characteristic smirk. Granger rolled her eyes, not entertaining him by replying back. Harry and Finn came around the corner with Finn running straight for the kitchen.

“I haven’t had Grandma Molly’s cooking in so long!” He shouted dramatically. Ron and Ginny turned to look at him.

“You knew our Mom?” Ron sounded surprised.

Finn nodded, filling up his plate with food from the various containers. “She used to watch me when Mom and Dad had to work or run missions. I’d still go over on occasion after I got older and help her with watching Harry and Ginny’s kids.”

“I still think it’s weird to know we’re going to have three kids.” She turned and pointed her silverware at Harry, “How did I manage to let you knock me up three times?” Hermione was surprised she never went in for Auror training, the woman was a natural with interrogating. Harry just swore up and down he’d never force it on her and couldn’t speak for himself in a future that may no longer happen.

Everyone settled in either the living room or along the bar and ate Molly’s home-cooked meal. Malfoy couldn’t deny that the food tasted like heaven. Molly could easily sell her meals for a huge profit and drive the wizarding world mad with the way she used seasoning and flavors.

“So, since you happen to know each of us pretty well, tell us a bit more about yourself, Finn,” Ginny asked as she cast a spell that gathered everyone’s dish and cleaned the meal up. Finn had moved to sit on the ground near the fireplace. Malfoy brought a chair from the bar into the living room to sit next to his son, just not on the ground. 

“Um, well. I’m fourteen. Dad and half the Weasley clan think I would’ve ended up in Slytherin. The only pet we owned was Crookshanks, but I don’t remember much of him since he died when I was still fairly young. Dad and Uncle Harry, you two taught me everything that I know about Quidditch. And yes, your team is my team, Dad.” Malfoy looked every bit like a proud father at that moment. Ron could be heard asking who Malfoy rooted for and Ginny smacking him to shut him up.

“Mom taught me most of my elementary lessons, Muggle style education. When you guys decided it wouldn’t be wise to send me to Hogwarts, she divided a normal wizarding education between all of you and Uncle George. Aunt Luna, Uncle Theo, and Uncle Blaise on occasion would help out, too.”

“What about when the war started? Do you remember anything about that?” Harry asked carefully.

The smile that was on Finn’s face slowly fell. Hermione wanted to comfort her son but wasn’t sure how. She looked towards Malfoy across the room and noticed the same feeling on his face.

“I don’t really remember when it started or how. I know the fires on the Manor are part of it, but other than that I’m not sure. Mom, Dad, and yourself started training me when I turned ten. Of course, I didn’t have magic then, but Mom made sure I knew how to pronounce the spells and perform the wand movement perfectly while we waited for my magic.” 

“We started training, you? For what?” Hermione asked a little shocked at her future self.

“For this. As far as I know, this, send me back has been on the table for many years. Harry and Ginny’s kids were too young and we didn’t know how much time was left. I even accompanied Dad and Uncle Harry on a few missions towards the end of my training.”

“You did what?!” Hermione stood and shot threatening glares at both Malfoy and Harry. “Why would I, we, allow that? You’re a child.”

“Uncle Harry was fourteen when he was in the Triwizard Tournament and when Voldemourt returned. If he could do it, so could I.”

“But fighting in a war, running missions, isn’t like the Triwizard Tournament,” Hermione stated. Finn had muttered something about not having this argument again and Harry looked a little unsure what to do seeing as how he was somehow at fault for this. Draco on the other hand took charge. “I think for Granger’s sake, we should shelve this conversation for later. I know she didn’t exactly rest last night.” Harry, Ginny, and Ron said their goodbyes to the other three before flooing off to their respective homes.

“Thanks, Granger for the breakfast this morning. It was nice.” Malfoy said as he returned the barstool to its location. 

“No problem. I’m sure Finn enjoyed it and his outing with you. By the way, where did you take him?” She was tidying up her coffee and side tables from what Harry and Ron left.

“Muggle London. I’m not that daft that I’d take him into Diagon Alley.” He leaned against the bar and she crossed into the kitchen to throw away the trash. 

“Well, thank you for that.”

“It’s nothing to thank me for. He’s my son, too.” Malfoy just shrugged it off. It was the truth. It was obvious this boy was his son, and even if he missed fourteen years of his life because his future self decided it’d be best to send him back, he was still going to treat him like a son. “I better get going, let you both settle in for the night.”

“Dad, wait!” Finn came running down the hall. He had a small stack of envelopes in his hand. “These are for you,” he handed half to Malfoy. “And these are for you,” the rest went into Hermione’s hand.

“What are these?” Hermione flipped them around and could see her name written out in two different fonts, one of which looked to be like her own handwriting. 

“They’re letters from you both in 2016. I don’t know what’s in them, I was just told to make sure I gave them to you after I arrived and that it is suggested you read them at the same time if it’s possible.” With the information delivered, he turned on his heels and down the hall back to his room.

Hermione looked up at Malfoy who was studying his own set of letters. He looked up at her and held the letters up. “This can wait for another day, right?” Hermione nodded her head. With that, he and his letters flooed to Malfoy Manor. Leaving Hermione to release a breath and study the letters with curious interest as to what she and her husband had to say.


	4. Chapter Four

The next morning, Finn and Hermione were eating omelets when a beautiful Eurasian Eagle Owl tapped against the living room window. “It’s Dad’s owl, Apollo!” Finn got up and raced to open the window. The owl flew in and dropped the letter in Hermione’s lap before perching the fridge, away from the reach of Crookshanks. 

Hermione opened the letter to see Malfoy’s handwriting.

_I arranged for Potter to come pick up Finn at 11. I’ll be over shortly before Potter comes. Let me know if this plan doesn’t work._

_D.M._

Hermione flipped the letter over and scribbled out her approval before giving it back to the owl named Apollo. Once the great owl flew away, Finn went to get ready for Harry to pick him up. Hermione spent the time picking up the kitchen and living room before she went to tidy herself up.

Somehow she lost track of time and zoned out. “Mom, are you okay?” Hermione jumped a little at the sound of her son’s voice on the other side of her bathroom door. She was still in the shower with the water running through her soaked hair.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’ll be out in a moment. Is Malfoy here?”

“Yes, Dad is here. Uncle Harry is too. Neither of them wanted to come in and check so they sent me. I’m going with Uncle Harry now. Bye, Mom!” She could hear the bedroom door close. Rather than hear how she kept Malfoy waiting, she turned the water off and stepped out wrapping a fluffy towel around herself. Opening up her dresser and pulling out her undergarments as well as an oversized Hogwarts shirt with a pair of dark gray sweat pants. 

She threw her soaked curls into a bun and grabbed the letters off her nightstand before gracing Malfoy with her presence. Coming around the corner of the hallway, she found Malfoy sitting at one corner of her loveseat staring at his own set of the letters they received from their son. She quietly went over and took up the other corner.

“What do you think they’ve written to us about?” Malfoy softly questioned.

“I’m not sure. There are so many things they could be informing us about.” Hermione took a deep breath, “I guess we should start. How about the letter we wrote to ourselves?” Malfoy nodded and ripped open his letter. Hermione found the letter addressed to her in her own script and opened the envelope up. Inside was a letter trifold on plain white paper.

_Hermione,_

_It’s me. Well, you. Us? Anyway, I know what you must be thinking right now because you’re me. You’re probably questioning why we would send our son back in time with a mission that seems impossible, especially with how little information we have that we’re sending him with. If I know him, I’m sure he’s mentioned that he was the only one of the kids qualified enough for the job between our child and Harry and Ginny’s children. He is right about that._

_I’m sure that you’re curious as to what happened that led to Draco and I making this decision. Yes, I called him Draco, he is my husband after all (although he does annoy me quite often still). Hopefully, with Finley coming back that won’t disrupt the nature of you two developing a relationship and eventually marrying. I know it probably seemed strange, having our son tell you who his father was and who you ended up with, but if I’m being honest, it works. I can explain that more later on in this letter, right now, business._

_As far as we know and were able to figure out, the fires on Malfoy Manor that started before our 21st birthday seem to be when this D.E. Hybrid group started. We could never figure out for certain who was involved, but many former Death Eaters were in their ranks. There were also members that were never part of the Death Eaters, which is why we’ve named the group D.E. Hybrids. We’re not sure about their mission, but they started out by targeting Draco and Narcissa._

_Do NOT let Draco and Narcissa return back to the Manor permanently. They need to leave before the next fire which will be on Christmas morning. Draco wasn’t wounded in the 2nd fire, luckily, but Narcissa was scared and lost her House Elf that she had by her side since she was a young girl._

_Draco, Harry, and I have left some memories with Finn in his backpack. Just Accio them and they’ll pop out from their hiding point. I stored them there without Finn being aware just in the event something happened and he ended up in the wrong hands._

_Now, I’m sure you’re curious (even a minuscule amount) as to how you ended up as Mrs. Draco Malfoy. The first of the Malfoy Manor fires left Draco severely injured, both physically and mentally. We had a huge impact on both his physical and mental recovery and during that time we became close friends. You’ll be able to see his injuries and healing process more in-depth in the memories._

_After the second fire, you told Narcissa that she and Draco were not allowed to go back to the Manor because they were obviously the targets. You told her that you would transfigure your guest room for both of them to stay until something more permanent and safe could be worked out. Narcissa agreed to at least stay for a week and Draco followed his mother’s lead. Once you, Draco, Harry, and the others realized these fires were not accidents (who would use Fiendfyre as an accident), Harry called upon the Order and we all got started with trying to work things out as to who was doing this._

_With the Order back in action, and the main focus being on Malfoy Manor, Draco became heavily involved. Of course, he was also an Auror, so why wouldn’t he be involved. Because of him taking residence in your flat and working together on the Order and in the Ministry, your friendship eventually turned romantic. Draco will swear up and down that you were the first to ‘catch feelings’ as our son would say, but Draco was the first to do so and make it blatantly aware to you that his feelings had changed. It was quite romantic, the kind of thing that is often in Muggle romance novels or movies. So after living together for four months, the two of us decided to start dating._

_Before you ask, the boys and Ginny approved with flying colors. They and the other Weasleys even had a bet going. Narcissa was in on the bet, and won the pot!_

_Anyway, after we started dating, the relationship moved pretty fast. Draco proposed over Chinese takeout in June. I thought he was joking until he pulled out the ring, which he tells me he had been carrying around for a month waiting for the perfect moment. We were married in August and had Finley nine months later in May. May 12th is his birthday by the way if he hasn’t mentioned it._

_After Finn was born, we took a break from the Order to get settled into being new parents. The Order was still in place, but it was more out of caution than necessity. There hadn’t been any activity in nearly a year. That’s when the last of the Manor fire occurred. Luckily no one was home, but the magic in the Manor had been so worn down from the previous Fiendfyres that the Manor turned in ash in an hour’s time. Draco and Narcissa had gone in after it was cleared after the second fire and packed anything that was of value or importance to them._

_After that, the Order was back up and running at full speed, but it quickly came to a halt again when there was little to no evidence recovered from the Manor’s ruins. After the last Manor fire, we had nothing to work with and it stayed like that till Finn was about eight years old._

_At that point everything happened so quickly, the Order could hardly keep up. We were running missions nearly every other week. This group was hardly leaving any clues for us. By the time we were notified about an activity, it was gone or too far gone that we couldn’t do anything about it._

_When Finley was nine, Hogwarts was taken and destroyed by the D.E. Hybrid group. We tried to help the remaining teachers and students that were in there, but it was unsuccessful. At that point in time, Draco and I knew we’d have to teach Finn ourselves all things magic that he needed to know, while also teaching him fighting and defense skills. Harry didn’t agree with it at first, seeing how it reminded him of his time in school, but he eventually agreed to help us. We started training with just form and speech when Finn turned ten, and as soon as he turned eleven and had his wand we added magic into the training._

_He excelled and flourished. I guarantee that if he were to sit in on both his O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts that he’d get ‘Outstanding’ across the board. After all, he is the son of the top two students of their year. He has been training and preparing for this for nearly five years, Hermione. He still requires some training to finish up the final touches, but he’s ready._

_Believe in our son and take care of him. He is so much stronger than you and Draco realize right now._

_Hermione Malfoy_

Hermione folded up the letter and just stared at the wall across from her. Processing everything that she had been told. There wasn’t a whole lot of detailed information, she figured most of that would be in the memories. The information she did find out was mainly about her and Malfoy’s eventual relationship. 

She chanced a glance over to Malfoy who was already observing her. He raised one of his blonde eyebrows. “Next letter...from each other?” She nodded and slowly unveiled the letter that she knew to be written from Malfoy, her husband.

_My Beloved, Hermione,_

Oh boy, this was a completely different Malfoy.

_I’m kidding, we don’t talk like people in those steamy Muggle novels you and Red are always reading. You are my beautiful wife though, thank the gods. I’m not sure how I would’ve gotten through as much as I did without you by my side._

_I’m sure you have already given yourself the rundown as to what has happened between your year and our year. There’s not much else that I can add to it, you always did have a way of going into detail about anything and everything._

_I’m here to tell you about myself._ She rolled her eyes, of course, Malfoy would. _Stop that! Don’t roll your eyes at me, woman. I am not going to brag (that much) about myself. I haven’t done that since Hogwarts and we both know that._

_Where was I --? Oh yes, me. Well, hopefully, our brilliant son got to you in time, to prevent any serious maiming from the first Manor fire. Thank you for that by the way, know that if and when I thanked you for that night that I truly did mean it. I would never want myself, and by proxy, you, to go through what happened from the first fire. I’ve always been slightly ashamed that I never fully recovered from that incident. A Malfoy is not supposed to show any weakness they have, yet it was evident in the scars on my body and the way I walked. It could never be hidden._

_You helped me overcome those demons I had while recovering. I tried to push you away, but you and your stubbornness won in the end and I’m so relieved that it did. Because of you, my life returned to being nearly as normal as it was before the fire._

_Then you let myself and Mother stay with you after the second fire, and that’s when you won Mother over. She started hinting that I should ‘just put my big boy pants on’ and ask you out on a date, but I always found an excuse. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was worried that it would put an end to the new friendship we had developed while I was healing._

_I’ll let you in on a little secret. The moment you came into the Manor and helped me escape as injured as I was, I’m pretty sure I swooned like a little teenage girl. Seeing you hastily running in, your wild mane flying all around you, the embers casting shadows and highlights on your face. You could’ve said anything at that moment and I’d have agreed without a second’s thought._

_You, Hermione, have been the one stealing bits and pieces of my heart and thoughts since our eighth year. I’ll admit that I had a crush on you much earlier in our Hogwart days, like most of the Slytherin boys (a fact that you never truly believed), but the eighth year was the year that crush changed to infatuation. That’s part of the reason I started interacting with you a bit more, but I kept even those actions at bay for fear of scaring you away._

_I’ll let you know another secret. That man, hopefully sitting near you, is currently in love with you. He won’t say it or admit it, even to himself, but he is. I’ve had years to look back on this point in my life that you and I are currently in. Although hopefully, things are slightly different now, that is one thing that cannot be changed._

_And if I know you, which by now I know all of you pretty well, hint hint,_ (Hermione could feel the heat rising on her cheeks with that suggestive hint) _the thought of him being in love with you currently, for lack of better words, freaks you out! Don’t freak out on the poor lad, I beg you. He is still trying to figure it all out fully himself._

_Just know that we would never do anything to purposefully harm you. Even in the past, anything that has harmed you, please know we thought it was in your best interest. Except for the incident with Aunt Bella, I can never forgive myself for not helping at that moment, when you needed me most._

_Take care of our son, give him my love. Tell Finn that I am so very proud of him._

_I love you, Hermione Jean Granger Malfoy. Well, it’s just Granger. For now._

_Draco Malfoy_

Hermione couldn’t help but let her eyes travel to the man sitting next to her wondering if what his future self had said was true. Is he in love with her right now?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two uploads back to back?! Enjoy and happy holidays!

Since Malfoy Manor’s Fiendfyre attacks, Draco has had little time to think about everything that has happened and come about because of it. He now had a son, who was fourteen and from the year 2016. A timeline in which he could no longer return to, so it was up to Draco to help care for and raise the boy with his mother, Granger.

The same woman who had come to save him when he was passed out in his room from trying to fight off the Fiendfyre. According to his son, he escaped from a much worse fate compared to the timeline in which his son hadn’t arrived. He’d be forever grateful to both Granger and his son, Finley. 

Finley was something else entirely so far. He was obviously raised being around both the Magic and Muggle world. He seemed at ease dealing with Muggle money when Draco took him out shopping in Muggle London. Draco was still trying to get the hang of Muggle money. Finn was also handling the fact that he had traveled back in time sixteen years and essentially lost his parents in the process. 

While he and Granger were technically Finn’s parents, they were not the ones that birthed and raised him. They were still years away from the point in time where he estimated that Finn had been conceived. That in itself brought up another question.

While he had built an acquittance type relationship with Granger in his eighth year, it was nowhere near where one would consider a romantic relationship to be the next step. How had Granger fallen for him, married him, and eventually had their child?

The letters that seemed to be calling to him from across his room held the answers, some of them for the most part. He would have to wait a few more hours before he could read them since their son had requested that they be present together when reading them.

When the hour arrived and flooed over to Granger’s flat. He arrived to see Finn watching some moving picture show on a Muggle device called a television. Finn seemed bored with it as his attention changed instantly to him upon his arrival. “Morning Dad, Mom is just in the shower.” He looked at the clock and his forehead scrunched up. “Actually she’s been in there for a while now.” Just then Potter came through the Floo.

“Malfoy.”

“Potter. You want to go and check on your friend? She’s been in the shower for a while according to Finn.”

“She’s supposedly your wife. Why don’t you go instead?” Potter had a coy smile on his face. He knew damn well if he were to step into the bathroom while Granger was showering he’d be hex into the next millennium.

“I’ll go check on her.” Rolling his eyes, Finn made his way to her bedroom. 

Malfoy moved over to take a seat at one end of the loveseat. “So what’s on the agenda today with my son?”

“Nothing much, Malfoy. We’re going to Grimmauld Place to see if the Black lineage tapestry recognizes that your heir is present now in this timeline. Ginny and I haven’t looked at it recently. Draco nodded, not really knowing what to say. He had never seen the magical tapestry.

Finn came back quickly and made his way over to Potter. “She’ll be out in a moment. I’ll see you later.” The boy was all smiles all the time, he had to have gotten that from Granger. Draco, himself, was not as positive and smiley due to his father’s strict upbringing. He used to be when he was much younger, but he had had it slowly snuffed out of him over his teenage years.

Potter and Finn left for Grimmauld Place, leaving Draco alone to gather his nerves. Nerves? Why was he nervous? He had no reason to be nervous. There was plenty of time that both he and Granger were alone in the library together. Studying silently with each other for the sake of the company. He was never nervous then, not that he could recall at least. 

Granger came out of the hall at that moment. Hair wet in a top knot, casual gray pants with an oversized Hogwarts shirt thrown over her body. This was how she usually looked when she was preparing for a late-night study session. Some things never change. In her hand, she clutched her own set of the letters delivered via Finn. 

She sat down on the other end of her loveseat. “What do you think they’ve written to us about?” Draco questioned

“I’m not sure. There are so many things they could be informing us about.” Granger inhaled a deep and calming breath, “I guess we should start. How about the letter we wrote to ourselves?” Draco agreed, believing it would likely be easier to hear from their future self as opposed to their future spouse. 

Opening the first envelope he found the letter written in his own script. At a quick glance, he could tell it wouldn't be too detailed, which he thanked his future self for.

_Draco,_

_It’s your favorite person...yourself! If you didn’t laugh at that, then I’m really not sure when I developed such humor. Must be from my extended years of hanging around Potter and the Weasleys, or when we became a dad. That may be when we started to take the little stuff less seriously. In that case, lighten up a bit! Pull that stick out of your arse and laugh a little. You’ll make your girl a lot happier by doing so, trust me._

_Speaking of your girl, who also happens to be my girl, I hope that you’re treating her well with the non-traditional arrival of our son. I have a feeling all is going as well as it could be going right now. I know it’s not exactly how you pictured becoming a father, but I know that Mother raised us to be the perfect gentleman and that you will be an excellent father, despite who we had as our own father._

_I’m going to save you from the details that I’m sure my Hermione is going over with your Hermione because the woman will give it to you later. It, being the details of everything as far as D.E. Hybrids go. That’s the resistance group we’re trying and failing to reign in and end. I don’t mean to sound so negative, but it’s the truth. We don’t know who is in charge and controlling them. We don’t know when they’re going to strike. We are failing miserably._

_Hopefully, you all will have better luck starting early. For the sake of Finn, Hermione, and yourself, I hope so. We deserve the chance at a quiet, happy life with those we love. Yes, I said, LOVE. You may not admit it now, but you do love that Muggle-born witch that drives you absolutely mad (in the best way possible)._

_Trust and believe in yourself, mate. Trust and believe in your family, which will include Potter and the Weasleys. Don’t deny yourself happiness because you’re chickening out. Ask her. Mother was right, put your big boy pants on and just ask her! It’ll lead to so many amazing things happening in your life, especially once things start to turn dark._

_Was there anything else I was supposed to add...oh when you view the short supply of our memories (mine, Hermione’s, and Potter’s) don’t beat yourself up too much with how much damage the first fire caused. We’re resilient and it helps that we had the right woman by our side the whole time._

_Give my love to everyone, I miss them so much. Also, tell Finley how proud we are of him, the smile on his face when you say it is worth anything and everything that you will sacrifice for him._

_Best get going now, there’s still a lot left to do before we ship Finn off to you._

_Draco Malfoy_

Draco chanced a glance at the witch next to him. She was still deep in thought reading her extremely detailed letter that could easily be twice the length of his. Taking a moment to look closer at the small details of her face, he could easily agree with anyone that this witch was attractive. Her warm chocolate eyes could heat you up after playing Quidditch in a blizzard. The freckles sprinkled delicately across her face would be impossible to memorize, but he would try to memorize the placement of each one if given the chance. 

Don’t even get him started on her hair. Yes, he used to tease her about it when they were much younger in Hogwarts, but over the years she had learned to tame the wild mess. No longer did her hair control her. While it was still wild and had a mind of its own, it was under the control of its owner. 

He realized rather quickly that yes, he might very well be at the very least infatuated with Hermione Granger. The thought of such a thing might make his ancestors roll in their graves. Such a thought would’ve led to added danger or even death, for both of them, if such a thought crossed his mind when Voldemort was in power.

Draco was still looking at Granger when her eyes met his. He raised one of his blonde eyebrows. “Next letter...from each other?” She nodded and slowly opened the last letter in her possession. 

Draco did the same and was met with the soft script he’d seen in school since he was eleven. 

_Hello Draco,_

_I hope that you are doing well. I don’t know if you’d believe me when I say how incredibly awkward this is for me. It seemed way easier to write to myself compared to writing to you._

_Business. As far as we know and were able to figure out, the fires on Malfoy Manor that started before my 21st birthday seem to be when this D.E. Hybrid group started. Many former Death Eaters were either high-ranking members or just regular members depending on their stance when Voldemort was in power. There were also members that were never part of the Death Eaters, which is why we’ve named the group D.E. Hybrids. We’re not sure about their mission, but they started out by targeting you and your mother._

_Do NOT return back to the Manor permanently. Do you understand me, Draco Lucius Malfoy? We had already gone through so much with your recovery after the first fire, that to have the idea of all that hard work taken away in a moment noticed, was too much to bear. As you can assume from that statement, we grew quite close while you were recovering from the first Manor fire. That may have been when I started to discover my romantic feelings towards you, a tiny amount mind you, I don’t need to be boosting your oversized ego._

_Anyway, you and your mother were not harmed during the second fire, but as a precaution the both of you stayed in my flat with me. It was at that point we grew even closer and eventually started our relationship._

_We got engaged and married quickly after we started dating. You used to say, “Once a Malfoy knows what he wants, he wants it that instant. You’re what I want, and I’m not going to waste another year not making you mine.” Pretty smooth, I know._

_Finley, our son, came nine months after we married. He was born on May 12, 2002. Luckily for us, D.E. Hybrid seemed to calm down in his early years. There was only one more Manor fire a year after Finn was born, it completely destroyed the whole thing. Be sure you and Narcissa obtain anything you’d wish to keep between now and the second fire. Make sure you do it discreetly to not draw too much attention. Things picked up again about eight years after Finn was born. Eventually, Hogwarts came under attack, which we had planned for so not many students or teachers were lost, only a handful. It was later destroyed, so Finn never got the chance to go to Hogwarts and we didn’t want to chance to send him off since your mother and yourself seemed to be one of the first targets. We didn’t know if there was a reasoning behind it._

_We started training Finley once he turned ten and we felt he had completed his training a few months ago. He is probably going to be a much better and strong wizard than either of us. You and Hermione have little to worry about with him. He might need some polishing, but he is ready for anything that should happen. Trust him._

_I know that our letters to you don’t seem as long as my own letters, but you know how I am. I have to know every little detail. You, you’re more go with the flow. Yes, that’s a Muggle phrase._

_Take care of our son, our friends, and family, yourself, and me. I may not show it all the time, but even the strongest break with enough pressure._

_All my love,  
Hermione Malfoy_

She was right, of course, she’s nearly always right. Granger’s letters were far longer than his. He didn’t mind honestly, it had allowed him to study her and the way her face would react to what was written on the paper. He could see a fading blush across her face and was curious as to what he could’ve possibly written to make her blush.

She looked up not long after discovering the blush. Her eyes seemed to hold many questions and thoughts. 

“So why the blush? What did I say to get you all flustered?” The smirk playing on his lips at the sight of the blush coming back at full force. 

“Nothing!” Granger said too quickly.

Draco felt like a predator watching his prey. “Oh, well then you won’t mind if I read it for myself?” He reached for the letter that was lying across her lap. Before he could grasp the corner of the folded paper she swatted quick and hard at his hand. He withdrew with a hiss. “What was that for, woman?”

“If it was for you to know then perhaps you should’ve written it to yourself. It was a warning for me.” 

“Maybe I thought you’d be nice enough to share what we had written to each other. I’ll go first.” He pulled the letter he wrote to himself and found the first line. “I told myself, ‘Pull that stick out of your arse and laugh a little.’” He had started out so confidence with what he found and lost that confidence quickly. Granger started laughing next to him.

“That is excellent advice. You could’ve used that in Hogwarts.” Malfoy just rolled his eyes. He deserved it. He was trying to get the girl to reveal the secrets she possessed that he picked the first line his eyes landed on and just started speaking. Now he’d pay the price, probably for years to come.

Draco put on his best pout he could manage, “But I want to know, Granger.”

“Don’t worry about it, Malfoy.” She placed her hand softly on his shoulder. “It’s nothing bad, I swear.” His attention was on her hand. The only time he could recall her voluntarily laying a hand on him was in their third year in the form of a punch to the face. He enjoyed this a thousand times more.

The blush returned and Granger removed her hand, folding it back into her lap with the letters. “Did they tell you about...us?”

“Yes, they talked about it some. I had quite a lot to say about,” he stopped himself short of talking about feelings he wasn’t completely sure he had. Granger looked at him in question. “Stuff.” A simple answer. If Granger could have her secrets, he could have his own.

Her head hung down, deep in thought. Stray strands of curls that had come loose from her knot fell in front of her eyes. “What are we going to do now?” She looked back up to him. In her eyes, there was hope, fear, and a slew of other emotions he couldn’t categorize. 

“I don’t know. We’ll figure it out. We have Boy Wonder, Red, Weasel, their family, Finn.” He moved closer with each person he listed off. He took one of the strands between his fingers and gently dragged it behind her ear, his fingers grazing softly against her skin. “And each other.”

He was so close now that the blush across Hermione’s face seemed to encapsulate him with heat. She was watching him closely. Her mouth slightly open, fanning her sweet breath across his face. Pull that stick out of your arse & put your big boy pants on. The words were flashing across his eyes in his own handwriting. He drew himself closer to her lips. Her eyes fluttered shut. Their breath mixing together in the space between their lips.

The Floo sounded and Harry and their son arrived. Granger pushed him back quickly and settled herself. “Mom, Dad! I’m on the tapestry. Mom is, too, but she’s not yet connected to you, Dad, like the other spouses.”

Their son was completely unaware of what they had interrupted. Harry, however, shared a questioning glance between each of them. Draco had essentially been cockblocked by Potter and his own son. He groaned and threw his head back against the couch.


End file.
